Dutch to Send Missile System to Turkey

Published 7:00 pm, Thursday, February 6, 2003

The Dutch government has agreed to provide Turkey with a Patriot defense system in case of war in Iraq, the Defense Minister said Friday.

The missile system will be supplied under a bilateral agreement, not through NATO, according to an Air Force official.

Charlotte Slagmolen, a defense ministry spokeswoman, said it was unclear when the system would be deployed or how many missiles would be available.

The Dutch Air Force has four Patriot systems with 160 rocket-propelled missiles.

The decision comes as NATO allies face a deadline of Monday for raising objections to a U.S. request for help protecting Turkey, the only NATO member bordering Iraq.

NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson announced the deadline Thursday, the same day Turkey's parliament took the first step toward allowing U.S. troops to set up bases there for use in a war with Iraq.

Robertson stressed there "is complete agreement on the substance" of the measures to defend Turkey, and differences only concerned the timing of a decision to order military experts to begin planning.

"NATO's solidarity with Turkey is not in doubt," Robertson insisted.

France, Germany and Belgium, just three of 19 NATO members, have held up the start of military planning for almost three weeks, arguing it would send the wrong signal while the United Nations works to avoid a war.

On Friday, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero reiterated France's view that launching military preparations would send the wrong signal while U.N. efforts to avert war against Iraq continued.

"The position of the allies is a position of supporting the United Nations," Valero said. "This position remains unchanged."

"In this context nothing would justify that the alliance associates itself with preparation for an eventual military operation," Valero said. He did not say how France would respond to Monday's deadline.

Although the Dutch public is widely opposed to participation in a U.S.-led war in Iraq, Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende has said the Netherlands will be a "reliable partner" if force becomes necessary.

The Dutch supplied Patriots to Turkey during the 1991 Gulf War. The 15- foot projectiles are manufactured by the Massachusetts-based Raytheon company and can travel up to 3,125 miles an hour to a distance of 38 miles.